Holmes

Thursday, February 11, 2010

About a week ago, after the results of the Sherlock Holmes poll were published, I received an email regarding one actor who portrayed the great detective, but failed to list in the choices for selection. Professor Russell A. Potter was kind enough to provide enlightenment regarding Mr. Vasily Livanov’s portrayal of Mr. Holmes. Not well known in the West, Mr. Livanov’s Holmes is legendary in Russia, but to better extrapolate his accomplishments, I will defer to a fellow who has posted the clip below (a Mr. TheBishop SSR)…

“… The Russian version of Sherlock Holmes was filmed as the series “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson” between 1979 and 1986.

Livanov’s portrayal of Sherlock Holmes is widely regarded as one of the best, especially in the Former Soviet Union. In 2000 Livanov and his co-star Vitaly Solomin were voted the best impersonators of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in a poll by the English press. Both Queen Elizabeth II and former PM Margaret Thatcher were reportedly fond of Livanov’s portrayal, and he was awarded an OBE Order of the British Empire for his work.

The photograph of Livanov as Sherlock Holmes is said to be the largest of those gracing the walls of the Sherlock Holmes Museum in Baker Street. The excellent music score from the series is being played to the guests of the museum.

The actors were cast for the roles according to the illustrations by Sidney Paget, a friend of Conan Doyle and the first illustrator of the book The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – their appearance was close to this of the characters of Pagets illustrations.”

A snippet of a scene from an episode titled “The Acquaintance” is shown below…

Quite impressive – one simply has to enjoy the entire presentation, especially with Mr. Holmes performing experiments in his own lab! To read more about Mr. Livanov’s portrayal of Mr. Holmes, please turn to what is perhaps the most informative location on the topic (from the “Baker Street Dozen” website”), at: http://www.bakerstreetdozen.com/russianholmes.html

{And a ‘tip of the hat’ to the good Professor Potter for the communication – Kudos, sir!}